I still f'n hate using the closer grip on DE work, but I gave it one more week. Next week I will be within a month out so I am going to drop the closer grips in favor of my comp grip. I heard Rhodes yelling in my head to use my wraps so I did. I'd rather not use wraps during DE work, but I hate that closer grip so much that any little thing helps-a lot!

Oh yeah, as for the "*" for foam rolling, I just didn't feel like it. I didn't feel like warming up, but I knew in my head I'd tear something completely off. Halfway through warmups on DE my pecs felt stupid tight. That's a scary feeling. So I grabbed the foam roller and rolled my pecs out. It has to be pretty funny looking. Something akin to me mating with the floor. Anyway, my pecs felt much better as a result.

On to my supplemental exercise, board presses with dbl light bands. I'm still loving the fact that I have figured out how to perform board presses training by myself. Last time around I did 315 for 2x5 and 1x6. I have been really letting them sit on the boards before pressing.

I was feeling awful and wanted no part of training. I was starting to tell myself I'm close enough to the meet to cut down on assistance. I was already looking for a way out. This was lame so I made a deal with myself. Considering my last set of board presses last time was 6 reps, if I hit 10 I could go easy on the rest of my training. Well, I hit 12. The last one was a bit of a grinder. I might have had another, but the idea of getting pinned under the bar with doubled bands in the bastement by myself seemed daunting.

I did inverted rows, reverse band flies, and blast strap curls afterwards. This was not my prescribed assistance, but it was the deal I made with myself. The balancing act between the mental and physical part of this sport can be tough. Sometimes you just have to be flexible.